Clearly, Evernote Helps with Drowning the Noise

I'm a huge Evernote fan. The desktop, mobile and tablet apps are used everyday -- personally and professionally. It's my number one GTD app -- get things done. I also am in love with their Clearly browser extension for Chrome. Instead of telling you what it does, I'll show you:

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Brands Telling Their Own Stories: Beth Israel Deaconness Medical Center and 9/11

We live in a world where news doesn't break. It just happens and we, as consumers, hear about it, read about it, see it happening, live because of social media. As a result, the traditional news avenues for brands aren't what they used to be.

Today, brands have to self-publish. They must tell their own story because newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations just don't have the time to tell stories like they used to. news is short, punchy and informative these days. Yes, magazines and long form journalism is still kicking to a certain degree, but news outlets are the only one telling good stories.

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Is Crawford a Bust?

I realize we are steaming towards the Fall Classic, but these sort of stories drive me crazy.

Carl Crawford has three quarters of a season under his belt in Boston and the media is already asking if he's been a busy.

I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that baseball is the only sport in season -- despite pre-season football. The Sox are dominating the media and the boys at the Globe feel the need to dissect the team in every manny, including scrutinizing the big payroll moves Theo Epstein made in the offseason.

What do you think? Is Crawford a bust or is the Boston sports media making something out of nothing?

Mashable's "HOW TO: Get Journalists to Tell Your Story" Forgets One MAJOR Step

I worked as a reporter for the Boston Globe for about five years. I covered a variety of subjects, dealt with a ton of PR people and have a keen sense of what is news and what isn't. Add in my 15 years in PR and, needless to say, the journalism business is a business that I know in and out.

So while I'm buzzing through my RSS reader, I came across Mashable's story about "HOW TO: Get Journalists to Tell Your Story" and immediately thought to myself, holy crap, they are missing one critical element to media relations:

It's about the relationships, stupid.

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The Social Media Flame War and "Goodwill Hunting"

The beauty of social media is that everyone can do it. With a little reading, homework, testing, analyzing and effort, anyone can be a guru. As a result, the space is like a crowded supermarket on a half-off coupon day. It's packed. Some know how to shop smart, some just look good shopping.

One thing "gurus" like to do is tie everything that trends online - literally everything - to a lesson learned.

This was the case with the death of Osama Bin Laden. Just Google his name and the words social media lessons and see what you come up with.

One result that should pop up in the wash is a post written by my buddy @MSGiro over at Technorati, titled, "What Osama Bin Liden Taught Me About Scrapbooking".

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Social Media in 2011: Expect a Big Dose of STFU

I'm reading a lot of posts about what social business will look like in 2011. Lots of big words are being thrown around. Lots of big, 10,000 foot ideas are being teased. And lots of me me me is what I'm reading.

What I'm not reading is stuff about tactical innovation. There's a lot of fluff out there and frankly, while the folks writing the fluff are smarter than me, I'm just not seeing the work getting done.

Social media isn't about writing books. It's not about heady 1,000 word posts. It's not about mayorships. It's not about conferences and trade shows.

It's about people connecting with people; people connecting with brands (including media); brands connecting with people; brands connecting with brands; people connecting with government; and, brands connecting with government.

See a commonality here?

It's about the people stupid.

The real work that gets done in 2011 will improve these connections. They will add value from these connections. And, best of all, they will make new connections.

Work that doesn't, gets a big dose of STFU. Period.

Does the NH Union Leader Have the Right to Ban Gay Marriage Announcements?

The New Hampshire Union Leader refused to print a wedding announcement of a gay couple and as a result, stirred the angry pot of readers and subscribers.

To justify their decision, publisher Joe McQuaid wrote that the paper is not “anti-gay," but is opposed to a gay marriage law, according to the Boston Globe.

“While the law sanctions gay marriage, it neither demands that churches perform them or that our First Amendment right to choose what we print be suspended," McQuaid told the Globe. “We continue our longstanding policy of printing letters to the editor from New Hampshire citizens, whether or not they agree with us."

If you read the comments, you will see there are two camps on this issue.

The first camp is the gay community supporters who say that the paper is dead wrong and that there should be some legal action taken.

The other camp is the anti-gay community that applauds the move by the paper.

Then there is the camp I'm in — the camp that's ok with both stance.

You see, the gay-lifestyle isn't something that registers with me. I'm not bothered by it. It's really a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. If you're gay, cool. If you're not, fine. It honestly doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things whether or not you like chicks or dudes. It really doesn't.

But, from the newspapers standpoint, they have ever right to publish what they want. It's their paper and as you know, each paper has a political stance. While they cover the "issues" there's always a hidden agenda or role that the publishers want the paper to play in the community. Often times, that role consists of a political view. Why do you think papers come out publicly to support candidates?

I feel that the paper should print the notice, but that's because of my stance on the gay lifestyle in general. But, that's just my no-frills, no-drama political views (I'd rather talk about real issues that impact my life when it comes to political jousting).

This is an argument that will keep spinning round and round, and not come to an end. The publisher will refuse to publish such notices and the commenters will continue their fiery debate.

Where do you stand on the issue?

Article first published as Does the NH Union Leader Have the Right to Ban Gay Marriage Announcements? on Technorati.